You are on fire today! Shakespeare references, comedic quotes, panoramic photos... oh and sports so anyway, back to sports:

What are your thoughts on Tiger versus Weir head to head in Montreal this weekend? August 15th 1999 all over again?

Perhaps he meant that people perceive Google as coming to Europe to open "sales offices" as opposed to becoming a true multinational where innovation and decision making happens internationally. It is natural for Europeans to wonder whether the European employees will have any influence on the corporate culture. Also, why wouldn't Europeans (or anyone else) prefer to work with companies who do not just make money there but also *spend money* there.

Badly written, yes. Generally puzzling, why? The journalist stated his/ her bias upfront.

In spite of that quote you cite, the article does talk about some of the reasons why Google is not seen favourably.

Many in the UK see their offices in London (Buckingham Palace Road, where no tech firms locate themselves; the ecosystem is along the M4 corridor) as pretentious and wasteful. Their hiring processes are opaque and time-consuming, although they are rapidly improving. Their privacy policies are suspect (and you have to see this against the backdrop of our very tight Data Protection laws). The much-publicised "fun" culture may not be selling well with the serious geekdom they wish to tap. There may be some degree of anti-American sentiment too at play, as mentioned in Russia (but try as they may, they are NOT Europe).

Mr Mattos does articulate this rather oddly; albeit by all counts very distinguished, he IS an engineer ;-) (and all stereotypes about engineers come flooding back...)